Pharmaceuticals: adverse drug reactions: Drug Safety and Effectiveness Program.

Existing law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, regulates the packaging, labeling, and advertising of food, drugs, and cosmetics, under the administration of the State Department of Public Health. This bill would require the department to make every effort to enter into a contract or agreement with the University of California to establish a program, implemented only with federal or private funds or both, to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of prescription drugs in California. This bill would require, if the department and the University of California enter into a contract or agreement to establish the program, that the program include specified components, including, among other things, an Internet Web site designed to disseminate information to health care professionals and consumers on the relative safety and effectiveness of those drugs, as specified, and, until January 1, 2015, a prescription education service, as specified. The bill would require the department to provide an annual report on the service to specified legislative committees.